Mission Complete and a Birthday - Thursday, April 7, 2022

I have successfully walked all seven local San Antonio Volksmarches that are part of National Walking Week. Thursday, our group met at the Drury Inn at the intersection of I-10 North and 1604 to walk Leon Creek Greenway North. This is a newer portion of the bike path that I had not walked before.

After signing in with volunteer Pat Gunter, I headed out to do the 5k walk. When I walked over to the parking lot at the trailhead, my instructions said to turn right on the trail. Slight problem...there were two places to turn right. Sheri Logan was just getting to her car after finishing her walk so I asked her which trail was the correct one. She walked over with me and pointed me in the right direction. Thanks, Sheri! This is an out-and-back walk.

We could start the walk between 8 am and 11 am. The temperature at 8 am was 49 degrees. I opted to start at 10 am when the thermometer rose to a balmy 64 degrees. For those of you who don't know, I am allergic to cold so I don't like to be outside if it's really chilly.

Signs were plentiful at the trailhead.

Trail accessibility.

The morning finally was sunny and warm. Bird song and freeway noise collided in this walk. We walked under 1604 and IH-10, two major freeways. (In Texas, they call their interstates IH- instead of I-. I guess they're abbreviating Interstate Highway. I've never seen an IH designation in any other state, and I've been to all 50!)

Because of the Coral snake on another part of the Leon Creek Greenway two days ago, I was on high alert for snakes today. Thankfully, I did not see any. 

Yucca in bloom!

One of the reasons I was hesitant about which trail to take was that our directions said to go to the Marquis Trailhead. When I got to the trail I thought we were supposed to take, Marquis Trailhead was not listed as an option. It's a good thing Sheri Logan and Linda Goodman got me headed in the right direction.

No arrow to Marquis Trailhead!

Leon Creek Greenway North.

This part of South Central Texas has a base of limestone. You can see how rocky the ground is only a few inches below the soil! Below is the 1604 underpass.

During the rainy season, this will flood.

The trail goes under Hwy. 1604.

The early part of the trail
was very shaded.

I'm thinking these are some 
kind of sunflower. They are
all facing the sun!

A beautiful new trail: Leon
Creek Greenway North.

A patch of bluebonnets.

The trail before the turn-around point was mostly in the sun. I had to stop and take off my jacket. 

This is our turn-around point.

A map of this trail system.

At the Marquis Trailhead, I caught up with Maggie. She started out just before me. We walked back to the Drury Inn together. It was a relaxing, lovely walk. Just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.

On the way home, I stopped at Costco to buy gas. The price was $3.54 per gallon. At least it's [SLOWLY] headed in the right direction.

Our evening was the most fun part of the day. Today is Darren Medlin's birthday and he wanted to play miniature golf. I love miniature golf and it's been a long time since I've played it. We went to Cool Crest Miniature Golf Course in San Antonio. Be sure to read the history in the highlighted link above.

This miniature golf course is 92 years old, but it's awesome. The fairways are long and complicated. Small banana trees line the fairways; it's really pretty. We had a blast. It was Thursday night, so it wasn't very crowded. No waiting at all except for each other.

Bob teeing off.

Darren pointing out where
the hole is.

Darren, Bob, Susan Medlin.

Birthday boy...

...in the spotlight.

After mini-golf, we drove four miles down the road to the Five Points neighborhood to have dinner at The Cove, another famous place in San Antonio. The Cove features Texas-sourced ingredients and has food for vegetarians as well as carnivores. Darren and Bob went vegetarian and Susan and I had delicious burgers. There's also a biergarten. You can choose to eat indoors or on their patio. It was such a beautiful evening, we ate outdoors next to the window for indoors so we could hear the musicians. The Cove is also dog friendly (on their outdoor patio).

The Cove's menu. You order at 
the inside window.

Indoor bar and musicians.

Dog Patio rules.

A door full of Texas magnets.

Listening to the band 
through the window.

Here's our happy dinner crew:
Susan & Darren Medlin, Bob Alton.

I went to the hairdresser this afternoon and asked her to cut my hair nice and short. It will be about seven weeks until I see her again. Thankfully, my hair grows out fast.

Me and Susan Medlin. Can you tell I
just got my hair cut this afternoon?

We had a fun-filled evening with our BFFs. Thanks, Darren, for the mini-golf! 

I had to finish my blog on Friday because I kept falling asleep at the computer last night!!

Have a great weekend everyone.